Tuesday, 17 February 2015

My original plan was to fire out this album in the first weekend of January this year. I was on duty anyway, so a weekend of crafting sounded like the perfect plan. But I don't think I was really prepared for how time consuming it was gonna be, so here we are, well over a month after and it's finally finished.

And I'll be honest, making this album was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster for me. There was a definite moment where I just wanted to abandon the whole project. I just wasn't into it. Turns out that my printer isn't really the greatest (or if it has hidden potential, I don't know how to unlock it!), and my photos would come out in funny colors or covered in lines. And I found the whole plastic pocket system really limiting, and felt like I really had to think it through before I used a pocket because I only had a limited amount of them and might need that particular page for something else. And if I changed my mind I'd have to resize and reprint and basically start all over again. Guess I'm a little too used to making photo books and adding pages and layouts as I go and changing my mind about a billion times without it having much of a consequence. I got way frustrated with the whole process and ended up leaving it sitting in a pile in my living room for about a month.

But then I decided I just needed to get it done and out of the way. I started caring a little less about funny colors and lines on my photos. I added personal touches, like journaling a bit on the photos, adding elements and stamping patterns. And that's when it got really fun. I got a little addicted to my gold stamp pad. I started seeing results that I liked, and my head started swimming with ideas. It finally started looking and feeling a bit more complete. There's still tons of flawed photos and pages that aren't 100% perfect, but I'm still really happy with the result.

I still haven't quite decided if I'll be making another one, but at the same time, I have so many ideas. In particular, I've been thinking about making one from the three years I spent living in Doha in the Middle East. I have so many photos and little mementos from this time (like my Qatari health card, notes and pictures from friends and even my old house key!), and I'd love to have them all in one neat album. Ok, maybe I'm a little into it.

(Also, that last photo of me and Graeme where I'm waving my sparkler around and almost hitting us cracks me up beyond belief. Those faces!)

Sunday, 1 February 2015

Woohoo! I finished my Megan dress from Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes! I actually started this way back in November in my sewing class, but then basically didn't touch it all through December or January, until I finally picked it up again this weekend. And here we are, dress complete! High five for a productive weekend.

I decided to add a contrasting peter pan collar and rolled up sleeves. I didn't actually have a pattern for the collar, so I basically just made it up based on the pattern for the neckline. All the seams are neatly finished with bias binding on the inside. And I'm so happy with the fit. I was a bit worried for a while, when I got to the bit where you're supposed to sew the zipper and I realized it was waaay too big. I guess I was a bit off with my measurements, as I ended up cutting off 5 cm at both sides. I'll need to keep that in mind for next time I make it. Cause there definitely will be a next time. Maybe a floral version?